to wrap or not to wrap?

[n/a]

wanting to know what OH generally thinks on thermal wrapping headers.

yes or no.

thanks.

[FU7URE]

mine's wrapped, looks cool, dats it :D

dunno if there's much difference in terms of power gains but it is noticebly cooler in the engine bay than without.

[n/a]

mine's wrapped, looks cool, dats it :D

dunno if there's much difference in terms of power gains but it is noticebly cooler in the engine bay than without.

thanks for the input, wouldn't be wrapping for gains, but rather efficency.
add to poll ;)

[n/a]

could you guys leave a short comment as to why or why not, i know there will be alot of repeating comments but i want to know what people think in general.

[Slow96GSR]

I think everyone here know my opinion on wrapping. I'd rather take the time and coat it. But that's me. Each have +'s and -'s and other stuff but we get the best results from coating.

[bennjamin]

IMO , No. Its a bling bling thing , nothing more. There are problems associated with wrapping ( premature wear , cracking , rust etc) if not done properly.
Do as advised above and ceramic coat it for best results.

[ACTI0NMAN-1]

i thermal wrapped my intake instead, it seemed to make more sense.

[JasonGilholme]

How did you find the intake afterwards?? Mine gets a bit hot after a while with no wrapping.

[n/a]

yea i've done alot of useless reading on this and other fourms about thermal wrap. found that ceramic coating is the better option, i've seen dyno gains from ceramic coating, impressive, only if you have $300 lying around..

and the -ves to thermal wrap is that it can lead to cracking if not done right. but i'm sure claymore can vouch of thermal wrap, as he's never had problems what so ever. of course thermal wrap is purely for the rice factor! but it's JDM!!

is there a cheaper alternative to ceramic coating? i was hoping to just a clear engine enamel but i read that engine enamel is useless for header coating, although it's meant to be able to within 650deg or something the coatings simply burn off :confused:

[n/a]

there's a combination of coating the headers with some sort of ceramic spray, and then thermal wrapping. that way the header is protected from any rust in the future.

i'm gonna have to say yes to thermal wrapping. as long as there aren't any heat spots created, the headers should not crack.

[SIR GSR]

Wrap....

It helps keep the exhaust gasses hotter meaning faster flow....Well, I have the dump pipe from my turbo wrapped...

[egSi]

i wrapped my old 4-2-1 with the copper wrap here:

CLICK HERE! (http://undergroundimports.com.au/ecommerce/os/catalog/index.php?manufacturers_id=40)

no problems at all. it took a long time and i got a lil itchy but the header is still fine now so interms of cracking and premeture wear :zip: on something that would get hotter say a turbo manifold maybe its not such a great idea, but on a honda header :thumbsup: imo

[Limbo]

i had 4 or 5 sets of wrapped headers and it works like a charm.

BTW latest wrap i used was from Trav (egSi) have to say his product seems to be the best i've used yet. Still flexible and not going brittle like some of the other wrap i used.

Usually you will only ceramic coat or wrap. Ceramic coating does inside and outside and you can actually touch the header when the car's on. There is no need to wrap after ceramic coating as its useless.

The only reason you wrap is due to the cost. Ceramic coating is like $300-500 per header, whislt wrapping is only $50-$100 that's alot cheaper.
But wrapping is much more inferior to coating. Coating won't crack under extreme heat, thus why they coat turbo manifolds.

If you look at alot of the OEM headers some the them come wrapped with fibreglass and heat shields on top. I know my last car had this

[Eclipsor]

I've had mine wrapped for about a year no problems.

I doubt engine enamel would do anything. Sure it might be able to withstand heat but I doubt it has any heat shielding properties. Just looks pretty.

[vtec_jet]

hrmm interesting read . . does anyone know a particular place that will coat headers in melb?

maybe i can get some prices see if its affordable . .
was thinking about wrapping . . however never knew they could be coated . .

[Limbo]

I've had mine wrapped for about a year no problems.

I doubt engine enamel would do anything. Sure it might be able to withstand heat but I doubt it has any heat shielding properties. Just looks pretty.

Engine enamel is just to stop the headers from rusting under the wrap.

I think you might be confusing with ceramic coating, which is totally different.

[Eclipsor]

Was referring to this comment.



is there a cheaper alternative to ceramic coating? i was hoping to just a clear engine enamel but i read that engine enamel is useless for header coating, although it's meant to be able to within 650deg or something the coatings simply burn off :confused:

[Q_ball]

Coat > Wrap

[n/a]

Coat > Wrap

hey that works both for effectiveness and price!!:eek:

[Q_ball]

Well I'd rather pay a lil more, than have my headers crack on me prematurely, and having to fork out X amount of $$ to fix. :)

[Slow96GSR]

Coating the mani is about $250USD + S&H. The temp will drop in the engine compartment 20-30% which is 100% better than stock. The weight is also much less than the wrap and is only about .005"-.01" thick.

Calico (http://www.calicocoatings.com/index.phtml?coatings)
"Cool Black:
An ultra high temperature matte black ceramic coating made specifically for high performance exhaust systems. Coolblack can withstand extended exposure to EGT of 1700 deg. It increases horsepower and reduces under hood temps by 20-30%.
• Increases Horsepower
• Reduces Heat
• Available Applications:
Headers, Exhaust Systems"

"Coolkrome
A high temperature, high luster ceramic Header coating that increases horsepower and reduces under hood heat temperature by up to 30%. Coolkrome eliminates thermal fatigue and looks great.
• Increase Horsepower
• Reduces Heat
• Eliminates Thermal Fatigue
• Available Applications:
Headers, Heat Shields, Air Cleaners, Intake Manifolds, Valve Covers"

[Limbo]

Eclipsor - apologies, i see now what you were referring to.

Next cheapest thing to wrapping or coating is using heat shields like factor or putting factory heat shields on.

Q Ball - usually only cracks under extreme heat (turbo applications), so long as you coat the headers with the Engine enamel/high temp paint its all good.
After 4-5 headers of wrapping not one showed signs of stressing. And i'm no angel when it comes to driving ;)

[n/a]

Q Ball - usually only cracks under extreme heat (turbo applications), so long as you coat the headers with the Engine enamel/high temp paint its all good.

correct, but na engines produce enough heat to crack headers too.

[n/a]

i've been reading alot from d-series.org, majority is saying that the wrap=cracking is a load of http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/hotboxcivic/bs.gif, gayass internet myth.

everyone in the states has there SS header wrapped. also HT silicone coated.
will be doing this once i get the wrap and spray from the US.

[Limbo]

The heat needed for NA to crack headers is long endurence runs. I've never seen any properly wrapped headers crack on NA.
The reason why wrapping cracks is cos the headers inside have rusted and weakened the header first and then the heat has come in a done the rest.


You don't need that stuff from the US. EgSi has them and you'll get it prob within 2-3 days, good quality stuff also.
The HT engine enamel is fine no need for HT silicon. You can get those things normally from Supercheap.

[egSi]

thanks for that Hao.

think bout it like this, an OEM header comes with several sheilds to limit the amout of heat transfered into the engine bay. so essentially if Honda does it i can be bad? Header wrap keeps the head down probably mor effective than any OEM shield. i doubt any one with a street driven NA honda wil crack a header. If u buy some wrap off me and it cracks your header, itll be free ;)

[bennjamin]

correct, but na engines produce enough heat to crack headers too.

Also true , but is your "NA engine" producing larger than normal numbers ?
I think if the answer is no then this is a waste of time.

[n/a]

Also true , but is your "NA engine" producing larger than normal numbers ?
I think if the answer is no then this is a waste of time.

when you mean a waste of time do you mean as in it's not worth the wrap?

of course the wrap is purely a ricer mod :D

[n/a]

yea i read up on that too claymore, it's like 1/2" of overlapping.
how tight did you do yours?

[Limbo]

The wrap still stops heat in your engine bay, every little bit helps.
Also heat in the extractors helps scavanging of exhaust gases.

[roar]

do you have to remove the manifold from the car before wrapping... (i so cbf if i have to lol)